Radio frequency (RF) receivers are used in many applications, such as mobile communication devices (e.g., cell phones) and wi-fi receivers. A typical RF receiver includes an antenna operatively coupled to a so-called RF frontend. Although RF frontends can have any number of configurations, one typical example generally includes an impedance matching circuit to facilitate power transfer from the antenna to the RF frontend, a filter to remove or otherwise degrade out-of-band signals and image frequency response, an RF amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier, or LNA) configured to amplify in-band signal, and a mixer configured to mix the incoming RF signal with the signal from a local oscillator to down convert that RF input signal to the intermediate frequency. In some cases, the intermediate frequency can then be digitized by an analog to digital converter. The digital signal can then be sampled, filtered, and demodulated into a message that can then be acted upon or otherwise used. In a more general sense, RF amplifiers convert lower-power RF signals into higher-power signals and can be used to transmit RF signals between mobile devices and base stations. However, inefficiencies in RF power amplifiers for mobile devices deplete battery life and inefficiencies in RF power amplifiers for base stations cause excess power consumption.
As will be appreciated, the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale or intended to limit the disclosure to the specific configurations shown. For instance, while some figures generally indicate straight lines, right angles, and smooth surfaces, an actual implementation of a structure may have less than perfect straight lines, right angles, and some features may have surface topology or otherwise be non-smooth, given real world limitations of the processing equipment and techniques used. In short, the figures are provided merely to show example structures.